Tasmaniosaurus triassicus

The most famous resident of Tasmania’s Triassic swamp is the ancient reptile Tasmaniosaurus triassicus.  At around 1m in length, carnivorous Tasmaniosaurus was a predator on the hunt for food in and around the riverbanks.  While Tasmaniosaurus was not a dinosaur, it is an archosaur, an older member of the family of reptiles from which the dinosaurs evolved.  There is currently only one specimen of Tasmaniosaurus. It was found in the Knocklofty Formation on the foothills of kunanyi/Wellington.

Tasmaniosaurus triassicus has been described from just one specimen - a jumble of bones (visible here as dark-coloured shapes) in a slab of rock now stored under glass in this wooden case at the University of Tasmania.